Hecate
Pronunciation
Dictionary.comAlternative forms
Origin
Perhaps from Ancient Greek Ἑκατη, the feminine equivalent of Ἑκατός, an obscure epithet of Apollo, variously interpreted as "one who works/operates from afar", "one who drives off",
Charles Anthon, A Classical Dictionary (Harper & Brothers, 1869)
"the far reaching one" or "the far-darter".
P. E. Wheelwright, Metaphor and Reality (1975, ISBN 0-253-20122-5)
Alternatively, some suggest that the name derives from the Ancient Greek word for "will".
Jenny Strauss Clay, in Hesiod's Cosmos (Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-521-82392-7), lists a number of researchers who associate Hecate's name and "will", e.g. Walcot (1958), Neitzel (1975), and Derossi (1975); she identifies "the name and function of Hecate as the one 'by whose will' prayers are accomplished and fulfilled". This interpretation also appears in Liddell and Scott's A Greek English Lexicon.
Full definition of Hecate
Proper noun
Hecate
(plural Hecates)- The powerful goddess, in Greek mythology, of crossroads, fire, light, the moon, and the underworld; equivalent to the Roman goddess Trivia.